Why does the Institute for Molecular Medicine no longer test individual patients blood for the presence of chronic infections?
RESPONSE: The Institute for Molecular Medicine is a nonprofit research organization and cannot seek payment for any tests done at the Institute’s facilities. Therefore, the Board of Directors made a decision in 1999 to only accept blood or other samples for testing if a patient is enrolled in one of the Institute’s approved clinical trails and clinical testing is an approved part of the trial. In addition, the Institute’s attorney stressed that the liability for conducting clinical tests outside of an approved clinical trial is unacceptable. Therefore, we cannot test individual patients’ blood, even if it is sent to us, unless the patient is part of an ongoing Institute for Molecular Medicine clinical trial and the test(s) has been approved as a part of the trial.
